"Blind?"
The fabric stretched under his slender fingers, water soaking into his palms and sending a shiver up his spine. The hand squeezed his elbow tightly, but he shuffled away from the comforting touch when Annabeth inched closer. "I-I'm sorry.." He squeaked, hunching over and sliding his hands towards himself. They didn't budge from the firm grip Seaweed Brain had on his wrists.
"So that's why you act so strange. Always wondered what it was like to be blind, too." Seaweed Brain snickered, when the sound of skin hitting skin reached his sensitive ears. One of the hands left his wrist, too, and he leaned in towards the squeaky rubbing noise coming from Seaweed Brain's face.
"Ow, Wise Girl! Why do you always hit me so hard and then-" Annabeth's hand left his elbow and he felt the sand shift as she shot forward, pushing Seaweed Brain down and leaving him free. He grimaced when the muffled, deep voice of Seaweed Brain turned into a slight groan and the popping of lips was followed by heavy breathing.
"G-gross.." He murmured, grains of sand sifting between his fingers as he moved his shaky legs underneath him. His toes were still numb as he slowly rose up and onto his feet, stumbling once before his knees buckled. That temporary blackout must have erased the memory of the baseball bat one ofhis goons carried, he winced.
And then their was something underneath him. Not sand, something radiating with heat and coziness and comfort and.. that familiarly soft T-shirt and salty smell and the memories flashed past of Jack Pizarron and Harrison Monalaok and Frederick Colstale hitting him over the head with a baseball bat and waking up tied together like a Christmas present and the cold and-
His back was on the ground now, with Seaweed Brain's cruel scent and Annabeth's warm one hovering above him, an overworked hand over his heart and dusty voices fading into his ears.
"..'e al..'ight?"
"...hyperventilating, Seaweed Brain."
"...'eeds help, an'.. right now."
"..Boy? Ocean Boy? C'mon, wake up. Percy would feel bad if you died from Hypothermia and shock."
His lips curved into a weak smile and his shaking fingers wrapped around her wrist, clinging to it tightly and memorizing the texture. "'m fine.." That nickname from before was..? "Wise Girl." That's it. Why was she called that anyway?
"Hey! Only I can call Annabeth-"
"Let's get you standing, then." He could hear her smile as she hooked her arms underneath his armpits, easily standing him up and shifting him to hand between both her and a reluctant Seaweed Brain's shoulders. His arms were draped over their shoulders and he let his head droop, only for it to rise back up again.
"D-did you happen to find a-a-"
"Scarf? Got it, kiddo. Yours?"
He nodded, letting his head fall forward and the scarf's woolen material warm the skin on the back of his neck. It felt nice, this kind of comfort. His two saviors' especially. He would have to find a way to repay them, although he didn't exactly...
"What's your name anyway, Ocean Boy?" He felt his close-to-melted toes drag against the sand as they walked, and he did his best to move accordingly. But his stiff legs were barely responding. "A-Aomatos Volavit." He twitched, finally giving in to the dead feeling in his lower limbs.
"Aomatos, huh? Fitting." Seaweed Brain chortled, unfazed when Aomatos didn't respond. "So, Aoma, how'd you end up under the sea and chained up like a prisoner?" Seaweed Brain heard nothing from the small boy, who had his head cocked to the side towards Annabeth and his eyes closed. Percy waited silently, and was about to ask again when the boy's chapped lips parted.
"Bullies." He croaked, eyes half-open and pupils constricted into tiny pinpoints of unawareness. "B-bullies with b-aseball bats." Aoma chuckled humorlessly, letting his eyes once again drift close after the mere seconds of them being open. "Baseball bats?" His body shook as Annabeth winced, unconsciously shifting so the Yankees cap in her pocket felt less exposed.
Aoma nodded, head bobbing loosely with an audible crack of his stiffened neck. "Hit me i-in the head. Knocked m-me out." He coughed for a moment, excess water leaving spittle on his lips before he continued. "Woke up wrapped i-in w-ire, and t-they dropped me i-in." Aoma could hear the gears in Annabeth's head turning as her hand tightened on the back of his shoulder, and almost so the confused look on Seaweed Brain's face.
"Uh, why?"
Aoma would have burst out laughing, if he currently wasn't drowning in stutters and the tears pouring down his face. Drowning, d-d-drowning, drowning he just almost drowned drowned drowning gasp breath air breathe- That damned salty taste flowed into his mouth as he laughed, head suddenly thrown back and eyes squeezed shut.
"W-why, you say?!" His chest tightened familiarly and he gulped in more air, greedily taking the invisible platter and stuffing it down his throat. It was hilarious, Seaweed Brain's obliviousness. He ought to have seen- No, they ought to have seen by now why he deserved to drown but had so evilly survived. Not like he was exactly regretting the fresh feeling of inflated lungs..
"Why?! I'm a disgrace! A freak! A freak, a freak, a freak, a frea-"
A hand was slapped over his mouth.
"Stop."
